Asset Management Software: Types of Covered Assets, Benefits, and Popular Products

Asset Management: The Essence 

Asset management is the process of tracking, organizing, and maintaining a company's assets. Depending on the type and scale of the business, it covers many types of assets, both tangible and intangible. Asset management can be roughly divided into the following categories:

• IT Asset Management (ITAM) includes hardware (e.g., company-owned devices) and software, including subscriptions, licenses, patents, and network infrastructure components.
• Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) covers physical assets throughout their lifecycle.
• Financial Asset Management deals with investments, securities, loans, etc.
• Infrastructure Asset Management is used by government organizations and large companies. It focuses on maintaining, updating, and disposing of physical infrastructure assets such as roads, bridges, and utility networks.

The overall goal of asset management is to optimize asset usage throughout their lifecycle, improve performance, and reduce operational costs. Asset management software helps enterprises achieve this goal by collecting asset data, tracking their lifecycle, and providing automated reports for management analysis.

Why Use Asset Management Software? 

• Increased accuracy of asset documentation compared to manual paperwork, as human errors such as typos or accidental omissions are minimized.
• More efficient asset tracking. Asset management software helps keep track of which assets are available and where, and who should work with them and when. For example, the software helps identify "ghost" assets and prevent theft and loss.
• Time and cost savings. Automated asset management workflows allow asset management teams to accomplish more in less time.
• Improved asset utilization. Asset management software provides better visibility and control over assets. It enables analysis of asset usage patterns and planning for availability and maintenance, thereby improving asset utilization strategies.
• Enhanced maintenance management. The preventive maintenance feature implemented in an asset management solution helps ensure stable and continuous operation of assets.
• Improved compliance. Keeping track of all licensing rights and requirements of relevant laws and regulations can be a challenge. An asset management system minimizes legal risks and reduces costs associated with non-compliance.

Popular Asset Management Software 

AssetExplorer

ManageEngine AssetExplorer is a web-based ITAM tool designed for IT asset management with physical asset management capabilities. Its features include:

• Comprehensive inventory management throughout the asset lifecycle from procurement to disposal for all hardware and software assets.
• Software license management to ensure regulatory compliance, identify unnecessary or underused licenses, detect unauthorized software installations, etc.
• Contract and purchase order management enables tracking contract expiry dates and provides analytics on contracts and purchase orders by parameters such as spending patterns, contractor/supplier performance, etc.
• Asset reporting allows generating ready-made reports or creating custom reports on key asset data in various formats. Reports can be scheduled and automatically emailed to selected recipients.
• Configuration Management Database (CMDB) enables tracking all configuration items and their details in a single repository and categorizing them.
• Mobile app for tracking and managing hardware and software assets from anywhere.

Starting price is 99,500 RUB per year for 250 IT assets.

Asset Panda

Asset Panda is a cloud-based asset management and tracking platform that offers features such as barcode scanning, unlimited users, and custom report creation. Its capabilities include:

• Asset tracking, including assigning assets to users or locations, contract management, compliance and maintenance tracking, ticket management, and more.
• Barcode management allows creating and printing custom barcodes and QR codes to streamline asset management.
• Mobile app with built-in barcode scanning, GPS locator, and report access for managing assets on the go.

Prices depend on the number of assets and are available upon request from AssetPanda.

GoCodes

GoCodes is a web-based asset and inventory tracking application designed for companies that need to manage physical assets. Its capabilities include:

• Patented QR code labels with unique identifiers displaying asset details such as type, serial number, and assignment help eliminate duplicates and confirm ownership.
• Automatic GPS tracking with mapping functionality allows managers to view and update asset locations with each barcode scan.
• Automated work order management helps review service records, schedule future repairs, and set maintenance reminders.
• Depreciation calculation and reporting on fixed assets based on common calculation scenarios.
• Auditing of asset financials and utilization with a fixed asset register that provides a complete audit trail.

GoCodes offers five pricing plans on a monthly and annual basis, each including different numbers of assets, users, etc.